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Stating your details in a form software can read

Everything a visitor reads on your contact page is, to software, a guess waiting to be made. Structured data removes the guessing: this is the business, this is the address, these are the hours. It guarantees nothing on its own, and it costs very little — which is a better trade than most things sold as SEO.

Local Medium at worst 2 findings covered

Medium

No local-business structured data

What SEOPert detected

The site does not describe itself as a local business in a format search engines read directly.

What this means

Structured data states your name, address, phone and hours in a format software reads directly, rather than leaving it to guess from the page. It does not guarantee anything, but it removes the guesswork.

How to fix it

  1. Add LocalBusiness structured data to your homepage with your name, address, phone number and opening hours.
  2. Use the most specific type that fits — Restaurant, Dentist, Plumber — rather than the generic one.
  3. Only state things that are actually on the page. Markup describing something a visitor cannot see is worse than none.
  4. Test it with Google’s Rich Results Test.
On WordPress
  1. Yoast SEO and Rank Math both generate this: fill in your business details in the plugin’s settings and set the organisation type to a local business.
On Shopify, Wix, Squarespace and Webflow
  1. Many platforms add business structured data automatically once you complete the business-info section in settings. Check there before adding your own.

If you are handing this to a developer

Add a LocalBusiness (or narrower subtype) JSON-LD block with name, address (PostalAddress), telephone, openingHoursSpecification, url and geo where known.

Check it worked. Test the homepage with Google’s Rich Results Test (search.google.com/test/rich-results): it should list your business type with no errors.

Low

Markup that leaves out the details

What SEOPert detected

Local-business markup is present but leaves out the address, the telephone, or both.

What this means

The markup is there and being read, but it leaves out details the page already shows a visitor. Completing it costs a line each and removes the guesswork entirely.

How to fix it

  1. Open the structured data on your homepage and add the missing fields.
  2. The values should be identical to what is printed on the page — same address, same number.
  3. Re-test with Google’s Rich Results Test.
On WordPress
  1. In Yoast or Rank Math, complete the missing fields under the plugin’s organisation or local SEO settings.

If you are handing this to a developer

Fill in the missing "address" (PostalAddress) and/or "telephone" properties on the existing LocalBusiness node.

Check it worked. Test the homepage with Google’s Rich Results Test: the address and telephone should both appear in the detected data.

Find the property in the wrong shape A 30-second exercise. One line is the problem — see whether you would catch it.

Guides

Guides that cover this

Related

Read next

The phone number, and whether anyone can tap it Local One business, one set of details Local Can somebody tell whether you are open? Local The town, where people read it first Local

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